FOR NEW BUSINESSES

You know that there are legal requirements to setting up a business but you don’t necessarily know what they are. We can help and guide you through the maze of regulatory requirements to make sure you can SLEEP NIGHTS! Take a look at our events page, we may be running a Business Start-Up Seminar near you in the not too distant future, have a look at the items below to see some of the content. If not, we can help you on an individual basis, just contact us with your queries however large or small they may seem.

LEGAL STATUS OF YOUR BUSINESS

You need to decide how to set your business up and you will have to tell the tax man when you call him, here are a few types of business setup for you to consider:

• Sole Trader
• Partnership
• Limited Company
• Limited Liability Partnership
• Co-Operative
• Registered Charity

We can explain the various types of set-up and what they mean to help you to make the decision based on the many factors that make your business what you want it to be.

TAX AND NATIONAL INSURANCE

Registering with HM Revenue and Customs in not a difficult process but we can guide you through it all and help make it less painless. We will also explain to you how the system works, when you will have to have your accounts in by and when you will have to pay your tax.

VAT - TO REGISTER OR NOT TO REGISTER: THAT IS THE QUESTION!

You don’t have to register for VAT immediately but it may be an advantage for some businesses, how will you know this? Simple, ask us!

Don’t know how the system works? Ask us!

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF WORKING FROM HOME?

Many small businesses start their life from the kitchen table or the spare bedroom; this is a really good way of setting up a low cost business and has many advantages as well as disadvantages. However, there are implications for the home business worker:

• Do you need planning permission?
• Will you have to pay business rates?
• Will you incur other expenses?
• What can you claim against tax?

All will be revealed in our start up session or during our consultation when you ask us to call!

FOR ALL BUSINESSES, OLD AND NEW

COMPLIANCE WITH THE DATA PROTECTION ACT 1998

What Is Data Protection? Data Protection regulates the holding and processing of “personal data” that is the information relating to living individuals, which is held either on computer or in manual records.

The Data Protection Act 1998 works in two ways:

It says anyone who records and uses personal information (data controllers) must be open about how the information is used and must follow eight principles of “good information handling”.

It also gives us all as individuals (data subjects) certain rights, including the right to see information that is held about us and to have it corrected if it is wrong.

We can help you to comply with this legislation and help you write a policy for you staff to follow.

COMPLIANCE WITH HEALTH AND SAFETY REGULATIONS

If you employ 5 or more people you must register with the Health and Safety Executive, you must also have a Health and Safety policy. The policy must cover all relevant regulations such as COSHH, RIDDOR and the regulations that govern safe plant and equipment.

We can help you to write your policy or even do it for you but of course, the policy is only the first step, you need to ensure that you adhere to the policy and that your staff do also. We can help train your managers and staff to enable them to adhere to all of your company policies.

We can train your managers and staff to help identify and develop your company policies, we can also train elected members of staff to be responsible for these issues to ensure that you not only stay within the law but also that you don’t have any incidents that could result in litigation.

DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT

There are 4 areas of the DDA, most businesses are not involved with 2 of them, namely Education and Transport, but the other 2 very much involve businesses of all sizes and this Act is now being enforced so you do need to comply.

The 2 areas that should concern you as a business are EMPLOYING PEOPLE and ACCESS TO YOUR GOODS AND SERVICES, you MUST comply with these areas of the act and we can help you determine what you need to do. Remember, this act is not just for people that use a wheelchair, it is for any person that has a disability that prevents them from undertaking day to day routine activities, this could be someone who has a sight or hearing impairment, or someone who can’t read or write.

WHAT INSURANCE DO WE NEED?

All businesses need insurance but there are many companies out there waiting to part you from your hard earned cash, how do you know what to take and what not to take? We can explain the in’s and out’s of insuring your business in a straightforward and simple way, here are our categories for business insurance:

• What you must have by law
• What you will not do without if you have any sense
• What will be nice to have when you can afford it

WHAT IS THE PERFORMING RIGHTS SOCIETY?

You’re not an actor or a musician, so what does the Performing Rights Society have to do with you? Ask us!

FOOD HYGIENE REGULATIONS

There are specific regulations related to food businesses and you will need information on them and how to comply with them if you are considering that nice B & B on the coast or the beautiful bistro in the city centre.

EMPLOYMENT LAW!!!!

This minefield of legislation includes several Acts such as Racial Discrimination, Age Discrimination and Disability Discrimination as well as other issues such as contracts and terms and conditions of employment. Our start up seminar outlines what these are but we can also offer you a special service of developing your policies for you and training your staff to understand their obligations as employees and managers. You will need to consider:

• Recruitment and selection procedures
• Advertising policy
• Written statement of employment particulars for all of your staff
• Holiday entitlements
• Etc etc etc

So many people tell us that the Employment Regulations prevent them from becoming employers as they are frightened off by the red tape, we can help you make sense of the red tape and make it work for you!